THE gardening skills of Week St Mary residents have resulted in a magnificent adornment in the village church.

Inspired by a visit last year to see the famous garland at the National Trust’s Cotehele House, a group of ringers from Week St Mary’s, St Mary’s Church decided to create one of their own in 2015.

The organisers behind the creation of the floral wonder placed an advertisement in their local parish magazine appealing to villagers to help them collect as many dried flowers as they were able to grow.

Many answered the call and began growing flowers in spring ready to be dried in their own homes, and places like chimney breasts, before being collected.

All the flowers for the garland were grown by parishioners — thousands of them were grown in many gardens around the parish and duly gathered in the autumn to be hung to dry ready for the garland’s assembly last Wednesday, November 25.

During the day the rope, which was to form the base for the garland, was hung down the central aisle at a suitable height to work on.

Once the flowers were dried and gathered in the church, the team of six began to compile the garland.

Six ladies, ably led by Judith Taylor, spent some of the morning and the afternoon assembling bunches of flowers to be wired to the rope.

Half the team started at either end and worked their way into the centre to create a beautiful garland of lavender, statis, hydrangeas, helichrysum and love-lies-bleeding to name a few.

One of the team helping compile the garland, Pauline Smeeth, said: “It smells lovely because of the lavender and looks beautiful hanging above the centre aisle.”

Gradually the rope was clothed in a fragrant, many coloured ‘muffler’ and, with several stops and starts, raised to its required height above the aisle.

“It was a really good experience and was quite a feat to get it in place as we had to ensure that the cross carried down the aisle during services would not hit it.

“One of the ladies used a pole with a brush on the end, usually used for cleaning windows, to help manoeuvre the large garland into place.”

All had an enjoyable time and the ladies were delighted with the results of their efforts.

Judith Taylor has also created a smaller garland that will sit over the door of the belfry in the church.

The garlands will remain in the church for the foreseeable future.

Thanks are extended to all those who grew, dried or were in any way involved in making this possible.

People are invited to call into St Mary’s Church to view what can only be described as an amazing creation.